Childeric Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Childeric Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 4 July 2017, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in December 2012.

This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You, together with governors and staff have continued to work closely as a team to ensure that children are safe and have the good quality of education they deserve.

The previous inspection found that there was further work to do to develop... pupils' writing in subjects other than English. You have made improvements in subjects across the curriculum. As a result, pupils' writing has improved because they practise writing routinely in a range of different subjects.

Work on display and in pupils' books shows that they take care to present their work neatly and carefully. The senior leadership team has worked with middle leaders to develop an interesting curriculum that engages pupils' interests and includes a wide variety of subjects. Specialist teachers, including in art, music and Spanish, have a positive impact on pupils' learning.

Pupils clearly enjoy these subjects, especially Spanish. Since the last inspection, you have worked effectively to improve the quality of teaching and learning. In particular, you have successfully improved the outcomes of disadvantaged pupils by the end of Year 6.

The school is a strong community where teaching, learning and care for children and their families is at the heart of its work. Leaders, governors, staff and pupils are committed to the school's aims, 'We care, we share, we believe, we achieve'. Pupils have a very good understanding of British values, and speak knowledgeably about individual liberty and democracy.

Pupils show respect towards each other and adults in lessons and around the school. They are friendly and generally conduct themselves very sensibly. The school has strong links with outside agencies beyond your community and you use their expertise very well to support vulnerable children and their families.

This has made a real difference to pupils' lives. The school environment is stimulating and encourages learning. Pupils respect all areas of their school and value the school's resources.

You have been particularly creative in developing the use of the playground space. Each class has its own area, including its own piece of garden where the pupils learn to cultivate flowers. Pupils confirmed that they enjoy the different activities that they can choose at breaktimes.

Activities include colouring, ball games and performing in a covered area designed by the pupils. Safeguarding is effective. School leaders, including the governing body, have ensured that all staff know and understand their responsibilities and the part they play in safeguarding pupils' welfare.

The leadership team has made sure that the school's safeguarding procedures are robust and records are detailed and of high quality. Staff and governors have received relevant, up-to-date training, including on child protection, female genital mutilation and the 'Prevent' duty. Pre-employment checks follow current guidance.

Referrals to external agencies are made swiftly, and records show that action to safeguard pupils' welfare is followed up thoroughly. The school works effectively with parents to keep their children safe. Leaders provide parents with clear information.

Parents are invited to attend specialist family support sessions, which focus on developing positive parenting skills and are available on two days each week. Through assemblies and in lessons, pupils learn about risks to their safety and how to keep themselves safe from harm in a variety of situations. You have a thorough approach to risk assessment, which is implemented for all school trips.

This ensures that the school's high expectations for keeping pupils safe in school are maintained when pupils are off site on outings. Parents who responded to Ofsted's online survey, Parent View, are confident that the school is well led and managed and that their children are safe in the school. Inspection findings ? The first line of enquiry for the inspection focused on safeguarding and, in particular, the welfare of pupils who are frequently absent from school.

This is because there has been a high rate of persistent absence over recent years for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. ? You check pupils' attendance rates closely throughout the year. Leaders pay particular attention to pupils' attendance at the beginning and end of each term.

Any pattern of unusual absence is followed up immediately. ? Through tracking pupils' attendance carefully, leaders have a detailed knowledge of the specific and exceptional circumstances that accounted for the school's previous high rates of persistent absence. Leaders know their local area and the school community well.

You make sure that effective strategies are used to identify any concerns quickly and support vulnerable pupils and their families. Any concerns are dealt with quickly by school leaders. A range of early help is used effectively.

• Attendance rates are improving. The school's leaders work effectively with families. Parents who responded to the online survey confirmed that they are confident that their children are well looked after and happy in school.

• The second line of enquiry looked at the school's work to support and challenge most-able pupils, including the disadvantaged most able, in key stage 2.This was an area for improvement identified by the previous inspection. National assessments in 2016 show that the most able pupils in Year 6 made average progress in key stage 2.

• The most able pupils are keen to do well, set to work quickly and are enthusiastic to complete the tasks that teachers set. Their attitudes to learning are positive. Work over time in writing shows that they present their work neatly and take pride in their work.

Current pupils' writing in Year 6 suggests that more pupils this year have reached greater depth in writing. ? Pupils comment positively about their learning in mathematics. Work seen in pupils' mathematics books in key stage 2 indicates that teachers are not consistently challenging the most able to think deeply and to make strong progress.

• You have rightly identified that the achievement of the most able is an area of improvement for the school. Staff are more rigorous in identifying the most able pupils in their classes than previously. However, these pupils continue to make average progress overall in reading, writing and mathematics.

There is further work to do to improve the achievement of the most able pupils. ? The third line of enquiry focused on the attainment of key groups in reading, writing and mathematics, including the most able, disadvantaged most-able pupils and girls in key stage 1. Historically, boys at the school achieved better than boys nationally.

Girls' attainment at the end of Year 2 in 2016 was below that of the boys in school and below girls nationally. ? The most able girls in Years 1 and 2 continue to build their writing, including using descriptive language and paragraphs and writing for a variety of purposes. However, workbooks demonstrate that pupils' writing has not consistently improved to the higher levels expected, based on their starting points.

• Analysis of work over time shows that all groups of pupils, including girls, focus on and engage in their learning and complete the work they are given in reading, writing and mathematics. Work seen in pupils' English and mathematics books, in key stage 1, showed a lack of challenge over time for the most able, to help them achieve better. ? The final line of enquiry focused on pupils' behaviour.

Exclusion rates were above national averages in 2013 and 2014. Exclusion rates for some key groups, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, were significantly above the national average. ? Selected pupils receive specialist support for their social and emotional needs, which is carefully tailored for each individual.

These pupils are monitored regularly, and teachers and adults deal quickly and effectively with any behaviour that is not as good as expected. As a result, exclusion rates this year have reduced slightly. ? Pupils collaborate well with each other.

Pupils confirmed that they feel safe throughout the day. They enjoy breaktimes and said that adults always help them immediately should any problems arise. In the pupil online survey, pupils said that some bullying does occur but that teachers are very good at dealing with any issues.

Pupils are very clear about the behaviour that the school expects of them and they understand the school's behaviour policy. They said that the policy was followed consistently by the school's leaders and staff. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? teaching routinely challenges the most able pupils, including the disadvantaged most able, so that they make improved progress ? attainment is higher at the end of key stage 1, particularly for girls.

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Lewisham. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Janice Howkins Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection The following activities were carried out: ? meetings with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, special educational needs coordinator, senior leaders, the safeguarding administrator and the vice chair of the governing body ? the listening to reading of pupils in Years 2, 3, 4 and 6 ? visits to a number of classes with the headteacher ? scrutiny of most able and most able disadvantaged pupils' work ? discussions with pupils in a group and informally in the playground ? an evaluation of documents provided by the school including the school improvement plan, the school self-evaluation form, the local authority school improvement visit report, safeguarding records, information about attendance and exclusions, together with information about current pupil achievement ? analysis of the 14 responses to Ofsted's online survey, Parent view, the 38 responses to the staff survey and 47 responses to the pupils' survey.

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